Eagles answer critism

A visibly relieved and buoyant Fab Flournoy was delighted with his side's performance as the Eagles got their BBL Trophy campaign off to a flying start with a convincing 94-85 victory against the Scottish Rocks in Glasgow.

A visibly relieved and buoyant Fab Flournoy was delighted with his side's performance as the Eagles got their BBL Trophy campaign off to a flying start with a convincing 94-85 victory against the Scottish Rocks in Glasgow.

After slumping to a fourth home defeat of the season against Brighton last week, Flournoy and his players had come in for stinging criticism from Eagles' managing-director Paul Blake.

He had warned that changes in personnel would be made if results did not improve.

Newcastle responded in exactly the right manner and coach Flournoy said: "This was a massive result for us as we had to get that last game against Brighton out of our system.

"I am proud of my players because we played smart basketball and you have to take into account Charles Smith was not playing again and both myself and TJ Walker were carrying injuries."

One player who understood Blake's message was forward Frank Bennett, who turned in a stellar performance with a game-high 32 points - helping the Eagles record their sixth away win of the season.

In the early stages it had looked as if Newcastle were still suffering from the effects of that gruelling double-overtime loss to the Bears as their outside shooting failed them time and time again during a distinctly pedestrian opening quarter.

With former Eagles forward and BBL veteran Tony Windless looking dangerous for the hosts, Bennett then suddenly inspired a surprise Eagles charge prior to the half-time break to hand Newcastle a 40-47 lead going into the second half.

A three-pointer by TJ Walker on the buzzer helped the Eagles extend their advantage to 58-67 by the end of the third quarter and the visitors never looked in any danger of losing their grip as they held on comfortably for the victory.

Although this was only the first game in their Trophy group, the Eagles have already taken a huge early leap towards the semi-finals of the competition which are pencilled in for January.

There is also the added bonus of home court advantage for Newcastle should they manage to progress with the Arena set to host the event.

With EBL side Teesside Mohawks the third team in the group and widely expected to be soundly beaten by their BBL counterparts, it means the Eagles progression in the competition has effectively come down to a two-legged encounter with the Rocks.

A fact that was not lost on Flournoy.

He said: "I warned my guys when they came off the court that in reality we have just finished the second quarter.

"There are still another 40 minutes to play and we hold a nine-point advantage.

"In basketball that is nothing if we are not mentally strong and we have to guard against being complacent in the return game next week and go for a win."

He continued: "Our immediate aim, though, has to be improving our home form.

"We are a different team on the road but we need to get into the habit of winning games on our own court, especially if we want to do well in this competition."

Flournoy will now prepare his team for the visit of BBL strugglers Birmingham Bullets to the Arena on Saturday.